Coronavirus: FTSE 100 falters as European stocks fall back March 10, 2020 The FTSE 100 dipped in and out of the red in a volatile afternoon of trading after Black Monday’s global stocks meltdown, before closing up 0.23 per cent. The FTSE 100 and other European indices rose in early trading after President Trump revealed he was preparing a major economic relief strategy. However the semblance of [...]
Your road map to the Isa universe: Make the most of your tax-free allowance March 10, 2020 There are just 27 days to go before the tax year ends on 5 April. For savers and investors, that means there are only a few weeks left to make use of their Individual Savings Account (Isa) allowance. Introduced in 1999, Isas allow people to invest up to £20,000 into savings each tax year, and [...]
Reforming business rates – is Land Value Tax really a viable alternative? March 9, 2020 The Business Rates system has long been considered by businesses as outdated and in need of reform. It imposes its tax burden whether the business is “in the red or the black”, i.e. profitable or not. Also, whilst purported to be a tax on business collected by means of property, it has a distinct bias [...]
What will Rishi Sunak’s Budget mean for personal taxes? March 6, 2020 With a commitment to leave rates for income tax, national insurance and VAT unchanged, the new Chancellor may be looking for other areas to raise tax in March’s Budget – possibly in capital gains tax and inheritance tax. In addition, the Conservative Party manifesto contained commitments to “review and reform” entrepreneurs’ relief (ER) as well [...]
If the chancellor stands up for small firms, he’ll be standing up for society as a whole March 6, 2020 Ever wondered how much small businesses hand over to the Treasury each year? Try £145bn in corporation tax and VAT alone. Factor in business rates, national insurance contributions, fuel duty, clean air charges and the insurance premium tax, and this big figure becomes, well, astronomical. We small business owners are resilient. We have continued to [...]
DEBATE: Should the chancellor rethink plans to get rid of entrepreneurs’ relief in the Budget? March 4, 2020 Should the chancellor rethink plans to get rid of entrepreneurs’ relief in next week’s Budget? Caroline Plumb OBE, chief executive and co-founder of Fluidly, says YES. Critics of entrepreneurs’ relief want proof of its economic impact, but it’s not as simple as throwing a couple of headline figures around and dismissing beneficiaries as the already [...]
Competition watchdog risks ‘killing’ British tech firms, startups warn March 3, 2020 The UK competition watchdog risks “killing” rising British tech companies by launching lengthy investigations while global rivals are free to pull ahead, startups have warned. In a letter to chancellor Rishi Sunak, seen by City A.M., industry body the Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec) said the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) “eleventh-hour interventions” risked [...]
Businesses and government in entrepreneurs’ relief row March 2, 2020 A row has broken out between the government and businesses over plans to scrap the entrepreneurs’ relief tax scheme, which small firms have warned will “destroy retirements”. Separately, a report has found that the use of the scheme is growing more than twice as fast in the north of the country than in London, questioning [...]
Government set to scrap entrepreneurs’ relief in £2.7bn tax grab March 1, 2020 Plans have been drawn up by the Treasury to hit businesses with a £2.7bn tax rise in this month’s budget. Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to scrap entrepreneurs’ relief, which gives a capital gains tax cut to people who start their own businesses. The scheme cuts the amount of capital gains tax paid, when they [...]
Rio Tinto returns record dividend as firm warns of coronavirus impact February 26, 2020 Rio Tinto today returned a record final divided of $3.7bn as the Anglo-Australian mining giant thanked the strength of its “world-class portfolio and balance sheet” for helping it through the “current volatile environment”. However, the FTSE 100 firm warned that it was “closely monitoring the impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus and [is]prepared for some short-term [...]